Coffee and Chat with the Coach

Sunday, November 30, 2014 · Mike Davis

Good morning! I have my coffee cup filled and am ready to chat! I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving, My day didn't exactly go as planned but on the whole it was a great day. We were without power for the morning so we skipped the Dover Turkey Trot not knowing if we would have hot water after to shower with. Would have been fun to run that inaugural race, but I was thankful that the electricity loss would not be a factor otherwise. For me it was great to spend Thanksgiving with some of my family but most specially, my Mother. With constant healthy concerns for my Mother, spending special days like Thanksgiving with her are very meaningful. After I dropped my Mother back at her place I stopped in on my best friend from high school where they typically have a "pie party" later in the day and was able to have a glass of wine and of course a piece of pie. I am most definitely someone that values friendships both current and past. Tony and I were very close through high school as well as after graduation and we were each others best man's (my first marriage) long, long ago. Circumstances put a gap in our friendship for a time, but we have since reunited and both of us want to make time to spend together. I grew up in Antrim New Hampshire where Tony and his wife Cathy live, so it is definitely nostalgic when I go back there. "You can't make old friends." I finished off my Thanksgiving day with my wife watching "Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving." A little bit of a different Thanksgiving, but very nice. Yesterday's "NFLR Winter Training Group" in Dover was great, despite the temperature being sub 20 degrees, 10 of us showed up at Juicy Roots in Dover and ran various distances. I mapped out a course that would keep us all together for nearly 3 miles and then those that were running longer went off in another direction. That strategy worked great as everyone was able to enjoy whatever distance they were comfortable with and we were somewhat together for half the run. Even with the sub 20 temperature everyone commented that they may have been overdressed and certainly would rather had worn just a headband instead of a hat. The sun was brilliant and with no wind, things definitely warmed up to allow for a comfortable run. The footing was challenging in a few places, but the route was generally lite traffic wise so that allowed us to run on the road a good part of the time. It was nice to see everyone running with someone most of the time and that's what I always hope for. "Juicy Roots" is a juice shop on 3rd street in Dover and they have been great host. They changed their opening time from 9am to 8am to accommodate us and they have allowed us to congregate in the shop and even leave stuff there. After our run they have a couple specials on recovery drinks that are great for post runs. We couldn't ask for a better place to support a healthy running experience. Tuesday night at 6pm we will be back at "7th Settlement Brewery" in Dover for our weekday run and while we don't get a nutritional post run juice, we do get to enjoy other great beverages! Come join us and be a winter runner! I may have mentioned last week that the Portsmouth Herald was reprinting an edited version of my blog on "quiet feet" and apparently it was in the paper Thanksgiving day. I was in Starbucks and the manager commented to me that he had read it that day before and thought it was great. I am always happy to have some greater PR as it exposes NFLR to many more people throughout the Seacoast. The edited versions tends to be much less personal and more focused on the technical aspects of running. Rob Levy covers running for the Herald and he mainly focuses on covering the Seacoast running scene, so he reaches out to me for technical material from time to time. I enjoy writing so it is a great opportunity and hopefully I am improving as a writer. I know my "Coffee and Chat" is probably less than grammatically sound at times, but grammar is definitely not my strong suit and usually I don't have the time to read it over after writing it, so I am trying to get better. My wife would be a great editor for me, but most the time she is still sleeping when I am writing. Time to get a moving. Hope you have a great week ahead! Mike